Recipients noticed what seemed like red flags as soon as they opened the emails from Service Canada, demanding repayment of pandemic benefits.
The government logo looked strange, or was broken. The text was grey, instead of the black typically used in official government correspondence. Some were written in French first, followed by English, which to many seemed unusual.
“You were paid more benefits than the amount for first you were eligible,” said one such email, seen by CBC News.
There was a link and a 1-800 number.
Some immediately dismissed it as another scam by fraudsters purporting to be from a government agency.
Others discussed the emails online, recounting attempts to get straight answers from Service Canada. One recipient claimed an agent hung up on them when they called to ask.
On Twitter and Reddit, they said the formatting looked vastly different from government correspondence they’d received in the past. One wrote that the government logo looked “horrible,” as if it had been made with the no-frills app MS Paint.
Others thought it was suspicious to be contacted via email, rather than a secure message.
More than 100 people reported the emails to the national fraud watchdog.
But Service Canada says the emails are no hoax, and those who receive them really do have to pay up.
The agency uses the email address in question…
